PATERSON — An officer with the Essex County Sheriff's Department was indicted today on charges he sexually abused two young girls.

Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes announced that a grand jury had found enough evidence to send Thomas Ingham to trial on sexual assault, sexual contact, lewdness and child endangerment charges. He is currently free on $150,000 bond.

Ingham was arrested in October after the Passaic County Prosecutor's Special Victims Unit conducted an investigation into allegations he had inappropriate contact with the girls when they were between eight and 15.

Authorities say the victims were friends of Ingham's family, and would often spend time at his home in Wayne between 2002 and 2010.

The most serious charge against Ingham is second-degree assault, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years, though all charges against him have the potential to send him away for nearly three times that.